Location of Raritan Township in Hunterdon County highlighted in yellow (right). Inset map: Location of Hunterdon County in New Jersey highlighted in black (left).
Raritan was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 2, 1838, from portions of the now-defunct Amwell Township. Flemington was formed within the township on March 14, 1870, and became an independent borough on April 7, 1910. Portions of the township were ceded to East Amwell Township in 1854 and 1897.[21]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 37.65 square miles (97.52 km2), including 37.48 square miles (97.08 km2) of land and 0.17 square miles (0.44 km2) of water (0.46%).[1][2]
Raritan Township is located 47.7 miles (76.8 km) east of Allentown, 51.7 miles (83.2 km) north of Philadelphia, and 64.9 miles (104.4 km) southwest of New York City.
Of the 8,056 households, 37.6% had children under the age of 18; 64.9% were married couples living together; 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present and 24.8% were non-families. Of all households, 20.7% were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.19.[18]
26.2% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 33.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 94.8 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 89.8 males.[18]
The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $109,941 (with a margin of error of +/− $7,543) and the median family income was $130,514 (+/− $10,612). Males had a median income of $95,123 (+/− $8,996) versus $62,229 (+/− $3,584) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $48,782 (+/− $2,900). About 2.0% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.[43]
2000 census
As of the 2000 United States census[15] there were 19,809 people, 6,939 households, and 5,391 families residing in the township. The population density was 523.5 inhabitants per square mile (202.1/km2). There were 7,094 housing units at an average density of 187.5 per square mile (72.4/km2). The racial makeup of the township was 93.22% White, 1.23% African American, 0.09% Native American, 3.50% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.68% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.79% of the population.[41][42]
There were 6,939 households, out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.24.[41][42]
In the township the population was spread out, with 29.3% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 32.6% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 8.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males.[41][42]
The median income for a household in the township was $85,996, and the median income for a family was $96,336. Males had a median income of $69,485 versus $41,911 for females. The per capita income for the township was $38,919. About 1.2% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.[41][42]
Government
Local government
Raritan Township is governed under the Township form of government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use the Township form.[44] The Township Committee is comprised of five members, who are elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats coming up for election each year as part of the November general election in a three-year cycle.[7][45] At an annual reorganization meeting, the Township Committee selects one of its members to serve as Mayor and another as Deputy Mayor. The mayor presides at Township Committee meetings and votes as a member of the committee, but has no other special powers under the township form of government law. All legislative and executive powers, including the power of appointments, are exercised by the committee as a whole.[46]
As of 2024[update], the members of the Raritan Township Committee are Mayor Scott Sipos (R, term on committee and as mayor ends December 31, 2024), Deputy Mayor Bob King (R, term on committee ends 2024; term as deputy mayor ends 2023), Robyn Fatooh (R, 2026), Scott R. MacDade (R, 2025) and Bradford Perry (R, 2026).[3][47][48][49][50][51]
In June 2022, Jeff Kuhl resigned from the seat he had held expiring in December 2024 in order to fill a vacant seat on the Hunterdon CountyBoard of County Commissioners.[52] The Township Committee appointed Bob King to fill Kuhl's vacant committee seat; King will serve on an interim basis until the November 2022 general election, when voters will choose a candidate to serve the balance of the term of office.[53]
Federal, state and county representation
Raritan Township is located in the 7th Congressional District[54] and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.[55][56][57] Prior to the 2010 Census, Raritan Township had been part of the 11th Congressional District, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections.[58]
Hunterdon County is governed by a Board of Chosen Commissioners composed of five members who are elected at-large on a partisan basis to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats up for election each year as part of the November general election. At an annual reorganization meeting held each January, the commissioners select one member to serve as the board's Director and another to serve as Deputy Director, each for a one-year term.[63][64] As of 2025[update], Hunterdon County's Commissioners are:
As of March 2011, there were a total of 15,130 registered voters in Raritan Township, of which 3,008 (19.9%) were registered as Democrats, 4,944 (32.7%) were registered as Republicans and 7,166 (47.4%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 12 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens.[77]
In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 57.8% of the vote (6,798 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 41.2% (4,843 votes), and other candidates with 1.0% (118 votes), among the 11,834 ballots cast by the township's 16,049 registered voters (75 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 73.7%.[78][79] In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 54.7% of the vote (6,705 cast), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 43.5% (5,339 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (121 votes), among the 12,261 ballots cast by the township's 15,254 registered voters, for a turnout of 80.4%.[80] In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 59.7% of the vote (6,727 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 39.7% (4,470 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (97 votes), among the 11,265 ballots cast by the township's 13,693 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 82.3.[81]
In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 74.1% of the vote (5,504 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 24.5% (1,818 votes), and other candidates with 1.5% (109 votes), among the 7,595 ballots cast by the township's 16,003 registered voters (164 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 47.5%.[82][83] In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 64.8% of the vote (5,440 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 25.9% (2,173 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 7.4% (618 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (47 votes), among the 8,396 ballots cast by the township's 14,991 registered voters, yielding a 56.0% turnout.[84]
Education
Students in public school for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade attend the Flemington-Raritan Regional School District, which also serves children from the neighboring community of Flemington.[85][86][87] As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,079 students and 327.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.4:1.[88] The district consists of four K–4 elementary schools, one intermediate school for grades 5 and 6 and a middle school for grades 7 and 8.[89] Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[90]) are
Barley Sheaf School[91] (350 students; in grades K–4, located in Flemington),
Copper Hill School[92] (413; Pre-K–4, Ringoes),
Francis A. Desmares School[93] (447; K–4, Flemington),
Robert Hunter School[94] (388; K–4, Flemington),
Reading-Fleming Intermediate School[95] (682; 5–6, Flemington) and
J. P. Case Middle School[96] (781; 7–8, Flemington).[97][98] Raritan Township is allocated seven of the nine seats on the regional district's board of education.[99]
Public school students in ninth through twelfth grades attend Hunterdon Central Regional High School, part of the Hunterdon Central Regional High School District, which serves students in central Hunterdon County from Raritan Township and from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington and Readington Township.[100][101] As of the 2018–19 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 2,844 students and 238.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1.[102] Seats on the high school district's nine-member board of education are allocated based in the population of the five constituent municipalities who participate in the school district, with three seats allocated to Raritan Township.[103]
Eighth grade students from all of Hunterdon County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the Hunterdon County Vocational School District, a county-wide vocational school district that offers career and technical education at its campuses in Raritan Township and at programs sited at local high schools, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.[104]
Transportation
As of May 2010[update], the township had a total of 181.46 miles (292.03 km) of roadways, of which 146.40 miles (235.61 km) were maintained by the municipality, 22.36 miles (35.98 km) by Hunterdon County and 12.70 miles (20.44 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.[105]
Major county roads that go through the township include CR 514 (which runs along the southeastern border),[110]CR 523[111] and CR 579 (which runs along the southwestern border).[112]
On December 14, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, local militia led by Captain John Schenck ambushed a party of British dragoons returning from a raid on Flemington. The British leader, Cornet Francis Geary, was killed during this skirmish, known as the Ambush of Geary, that took place between Copper Hill and Larison's Corners.[116] On December 14, 1976, as part of the United States Bicentennial, Raritan Township dedicated a monument to the Amwell Militia at the site along US 202 and Route 31 northbound.[117] A memorial monument to Geary is located nearby along with a historical information plaque describing the Amwell Skirmish.[118][119]
^ abTownship Committee, Township of Raritan. Accessed February 17, 2024. "Raritan Township has the Township form of government which, designed to parallel the New England Township Meeting, is one of the oldest forms of government in New Jersey. The governing body is a Township Committee of five members who are elected for three-year staggered terms in partisan elections from the Township at large. There is an election of at least one member every year. The mayor is elected by the Township Committee for a one year term."
^Nestor, Sandy. Indian Placenames in America, Volume 1, p. 114. Accessed September 21, 2015. "Raritan is Lenape for 'stream overflows,' or 'a point on a tidal river.'"
^DeMarco, Megan. "Voters to decide whether to merge two Princetons into one", The Star-Ledger, November 3, 2011. Accessed January 8, 2017. "There are 22 sets of 'doughnut towns' in New Jersey, those where one town wraps around the other town". Note that following voter approval of the Princeton merger, 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" remain.
^Raum, John O. The History of New Jersey: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 1, p. 267, J. E. Potter and company, 1877. Accessed July 18, 2013. "Raritan township was formed from Amwell in 1838. Its population in 1850 was 3,070; in 1860, 2,270; and in 1870, 3,654. Flemington, the county seat, is in this township. Its population in 1870 was 1,412. In the vicinity of Flemington are valuable copper mines. Croton and Copper Hill are post villages."
^Township Form of Government NJSA 40A:63-1, Raritan Township. Accessed November 20, 2019. "The governing body is a Township Committee of five members who are elected for three-year staggered terms in partisan elections from the Township at large. There is an election of at least one member every year. The mayor is elected by the Township Committee for a one year term."
^Deak, Mike. "Hunterdon County taps familiar face for commissioner vacancy", Courier News, June 11, 2022. Accessed July 8, 2022. "Jeff Kuhl, a former Raritan Township mayor, has taken the vacancy on the Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners created by the resignation of longtime Commissioner Matt Holt."
^Barth, Tyler. "Raritan Township Committee Appoints Bob King to Vacant Seat", TAP into Flemington / Raritan, July 5, 2022. Accessed July 26, 2022. "The Raritan Township Committee chose Bob King to fill the vacancy left by now-county commissioner Jeff Kuhl during the June 21 meeting. King was selected by the committee and sworn in to replace Kuhl, who was selected to take over a vacancy on the county board of commissioners in late May."
^Board of County Commissioners, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2023. "As top governing officials of Hunterdon County, the five Commissioners are chosen by popular vote in the November general elections. The term of office is for two or three years and the current compensation is $16,000 a year, with an extra $1,000 for the Director. One or two of the five members is elected each year."
^Flemington Raritan Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Flemington-Raritan Regional School District. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades K through 8 in the Flemington-Raritan School District. The Flemington-Raritan School District comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Flemington Borough and Raritan Township."
^Flemington-Raritan Regional School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 25, 2017. "The Flemington-Raritan School District (FRSD) is a regional, pre-K-8 district serving the children, parents and residents of Flemington Borough and Raritan Township, an area encompassing 38 square miles. Our nearly 3,200 students, 375 certified staff, and our support staff are housed in six buildings: four elementary (pre K-4), an intermediate school (5-6), and a middle school (7-8). Our graduates complete their 9-12 education at the Hunterdon Central Regional High School."
^Overview, Flemington-Raritan Regional School District. Accessed November 17, 2019. "The Flemington-Raritan School District (FRSD) is a regional, pre-K-8 district serving the children, parents and residents of Flemington Borough and Raritan Township, an area encompassing 38 square miles. Our nearly 3,100 students, 375 certified staff, and our support staff are housed in six buildings: four elementary (pre K-4), an intermediate school (5-6), and a middle school (7-8). Our graduates complete their 9-12 education at the Hunterdon Central Regional High School."
^Board of Education, Flemington-Raritan Regional School District. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Welcome to the Flemington-Raritan School District Board of Education. The Board is comprised of nine, volunteer members, with seven members elected from Raritan Township and two members elected from Flemington Borough. Members are elected to three-year terms on the November general election day."
^Hunterdon Central Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Hunterdon Central Regional High School. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades nine through twelve in the Hunterdon Central Regional High School District. Composition: The Hunterdon Central Regional High School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of, Delaware Township, East Amwell, Flemington Boro, Raritan Township, and Readington Township."
^Hunterdon Central Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Located in beautiful, historic Hunterdon County in central New Jersey, Hunterdon Central Regional High School serves the five municipalities of Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington Borough, Raritan Township and Readington Township. The District is comprised of 152.5 square miles and has a population of approximately 51,468 residents."
^Board of Education, Hunterdon Central Regional High School. Accessed April 17, 2020. "The Hunterdon Central Regional Board of Education is comprised of nine members, elected by constituents in the five municipalities whose students attend Hunterdon Central Regional High School: one each from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township and the Borough of Flemington; three each from Raritan Township and Readington Township."
^Heyboer, Kelly. "How to get your kid a seat in one of N.J.'s hardest-to-get-into high schools", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 2017. Accessed November 18, 2019. "Hunterdon County's vo-tech district has three academies for high-achieving students, all operating in partnerships with local high schools.... The academies are open to all students in the county. Students in the 8th grade are required to submit an application, schedule an interview and take a placement exam."
^Hunterdon County Short Line Rail Study, p. 9. Hunterdon County, New Jersey Planning Board, September 1998. Accessed November 15, 2019. "The Lehigh Line is a major regional line that connects the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (PA) metropolitan hub with the Newark (NJ) metropolitan area. The Lehigh Line enters the County at the Borough of Bloomsbury and passes through the Townships of Bethlehem, Union, Franklin, Clinton, and Raritan before exiting the County at the southern tip of Readington Township."
^Inventory of the Orlie Pell Papers, Rutgers University. Accessed July 26, 2022. "moved in 1961 to Hunterdon County, N.J. (where she had co-owned a house in Raritan Township, near Flemington, since 1938)"